December, as a present for the holidays, my wife got me something that I’d been wanting for quite some time, an Ancestry DNA kit. I quickly filled the spit tube and we mailed it off and waited anxiously. I never knew my biological father, and my family was unsure of what we are ethnicity wise, so those were the reasons why I wanted the kit and was so excited.

My results were surprising I’m mostly Scots Irish, English, and Ashkenazi Jewish. I was always told that we’re German and English, while the latter was correct, I am in-fact very little German. I decided to explore all of the heritages within my DNA, starting with the Scottish and Irish, a bit of English, and then set out to embrace and explore my Jewish side. 

I met an awesome gentleman who gives speeches and lectures on the Jewish people, another who majored in Jewish studies in college, and the director of the Jewish community relations council. All the while, I’d been reading numerous documents online and studying quite a bit. I plan on learning Yiddish, studying more in-depth, and working alongside others to learn within the Jewish community.

I am steadfast in my desire to learn, grow, and adopt fully my heritage as a person of Jewish ethnicity. I am sure that all of this will take time, but it will be time well spent and invested in knowing this part of me that I had no idea was within me.